2012 marks a significant milestone for New Mexico, for Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails and for Girl Scout councils across the country — they all celebrate their 100th anniversaries.
The Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails and the New Mexico State Parks co-hosted a Centennial Celebration on Saturday at Hyde Memorial Park in Santa Fe with more than 100 Girl Scouts, troops, families and members of the public joining in the celebration. Gov. Susana Martinez was the honored guest speaker.
The festivities began at 10:30 a.m. with the opening ceremony with Martinez. Following the ceremony, there was cake and activities provided by state parks, the Girl Scouts and community partners.
In the opening ceremony for the Centennial Celebration, Martinez awarded Lauren Marcus of Los Alamos and Stephanie Sugars of Albuquerque with their Gold Awards — the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. Martinez also awarded several Girl Scouts with their Bronze Awards, the highest award a Girl Scout Junior can earn.
Because of Marcus’ volunteer work at the Los Alamos County Animal Shelter, she noticed that work needed to be done to make the pets more adoptable. Her Gold Award project was titled “TAILS: Taking Action to Improve the Lives of Shelter Animals.”
Over the course of a year, Marcus planned an educational event for younger girls and worked with the Los Alamos Animal Shelter to better care for the animals there.
During the ceremony, State Park Director Tommy Mutz spoke.
“I am excited to share the centennial of our great state with the Girl Scouts at our very first state park. The historic lodge at Hyde Memorial State Park served as the area Girl Scout Lodge for many years and is the perfect background for this special day, honoring the leadership of the Girl Scouts in our state.”
Girl Scouting has a lengthy and notable history in New Mexico, the first Girl Scout Troop west of the Mississippi was in Santa Fe and included girls from Los Alamos.
Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails serves nearly 7,500 girl and adult members. The council jurisdiction includes 23 counties in northern and central New Mexico, covering over 70,000 square miles.
The organization mission is to build girls of courage, confidence and character. For more information, to join, or to volunteer, call 505-343-1040 or visit NMGirlScouts.org.